Page 35 of The Jackpot Screwer
My brother took a deep breath and rubbed at his forehead with his fingertips, his shoulders moving slowly up and down as the three of us watched him.
“Shaw, son, what is it?” Dad pressed.
“I don’t know… Dad, I…”
Mom took his hand in hers and pulled on it. “Shaw, honey, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”
He looked conflicted as he looked between Mom and Dad, anguish in his eyes.
“Shaw, tell us,” Dad insisted.
“I’m sorry but I got suspended.”
“From Harvard?” I cried. “Oh my God, Shaw. What did you do?”
Looking at him carefully, his appearance told me there was only one thing it could be.
“You damn idiot,” I hissed. “You’ve been caught doing drugs, haven’t you?”
Shaw took a step back and murderous eyes stared at me. “What the hell, Bronte? I wouldn’t do drugs; don’t you know me?”
“Well, you look a mess,” I protested, throwing my hands into the air.
“Well, that’s because I’ve been travelling for almost eight hours. Not to mention putting in an all-night study session last night, seeing as I won’t be around to hand in a paper next week.”
“Well, you look like a meth-head,” I protested.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Dad said. “Just calm down the both of you. Son, tell us what got you suspended.”
“Oh Shaw,” Mom groaned. “I can’t believe this. You worked so hard to get into that school. Do you know how privileged you are to be there? You could have been studying law there in a couple of years.”
Shaw turned to Mom. “Of course, I do. I know exactly how many hours I put in to get there, you don’t need to tell me.”
“Hey, don’t speak to your mom like that,” Dad said. “Show her some respect.”
Shaw looked suitably reprimanded and leaned to kiss Mom’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m just so damn pissed about it all.”
“So, tell us what the hell happened.” Dad put his hand on Shaw’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Shaw,” Mom cried. “Just tell us.”
He dropped his head. “My girlfriend, Monique, well, she’s pregnant.”
My mouth dropped open as Dad made a noise like he was being strangled.
“How the hell… you can’t be serious,” Dad groaned. “Two grandkids. What the hell?”
“Actually, no,” Shaw replied, his tone low. “It seems she’s been sleeping with our history Professor and he got her pregnant.”
“Oh, my goodness, honey you must be devastated.” Mom pulled him into her arms and kissed his cheek.
He maneuvered himself free and smiled at me. “No offence to you sis, but it’s actually a relief. Kids are not on my schedule for a while.”
My hands went to my belly and it hit me that I couldn’t imagine babies not being in my schedule, particularly the baby already growing inside of me.
“The baby is the professor’s then?” Dad asked. Shaw moved to stand in front of the fireplace, turned to face us and nodded. “And that got you suspended why?”
